


Banshee Witch 🐋

by moonart



Category: Dishonored (Video Games)
Genre: Abbey of the Everyman, Bottle street gang, Dunwall (Dishonored), F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-13
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:28:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29818068
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moonart/pseuds/moonart
Summary: When the Wrenhaven River washes a witch into the arms of Nicholaus, a City Watch guard, his world gets out of the joints. Will he keep her secret or betray her?[BANSHEE WITCH is placed seven years after Dishonored 1.]
Kudos: 3





	Banshee Witch 🐋

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nicholaus thinks it will be another boring shift, but there's always a surprise waiting in the streets of Dunwall.

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1  
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D I S T I L L E R Y D I S T R I C T, D U N W A L L  
3th Day, Month of Harvest, 1844

“The room was full of darkness, only she was shining. Her hair, her eyes... her mouth. Her mouth formed into a scream. A scream that went through your spine. A moment longer and you thought your ears would burst. Then she fell silent. Only then did I see what was happening around me. Why no one else screamed. Grey ropes lay around their necks, their eyes terrified with fear, starring at her.”

–THE SILENT SCREAM INCIDENT, Tamarak, Tyvia, 1832  
Excerpt from a witness report

### ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER PATROL 🙜

The salty and fishy air of the Wrenhaven River filled the lowest apartment to the right of the collapsed bridge in the Distillery District. Nicholaus Brewster’s apartment. The left window was wide open. Leaning against the window frame, the young man looked out at the dark waves. The sun was high up in the sky, glittering in the darkness of the water. Seagulls were cawing in the distance mixed with mingled conversations of people and now and then the horn of a passing ship.

His apartment was arranged like an inverted "u". On the left side stood his bed, a small side table, a metallic shelf, and a room-divider against the morning sun rays. Various books were scattered before the bed. Opposite the windows was a sofa. The right side was filled by a small kitchen and a dining table with two chairs. The middle of the "u" was a small bathroom. With a bathtub much too small for him. It took him only a few steps to get from his bed to the apartment door. Really not big, but it was his slice of heaven.

Noon, time for his shift at the City Watch. It was a thing of his family, every Brewster boy went to be a guard, trying to climb up the ladder and Nicholaus was no exception.

He walked away from the window towards the sofa, to slip into his worn brown boots that were standing next to it. From the shelf, he took a shirt and looked at it, then muttered to himself, "Good enough."

As he went to the front door, he closed the window and then grabbed the jacket and belt hanging on the wall next to the door. All that was missing now was the metal protective collar, which he picked up from the chair next to the door, then he put it around his neck. Pleased, he looked down at himself and tapped the metal with his hand.

A thought popped into his head, with swift steps he went back to the bed and fished out his beloved family heirloom from under the pillow. The metal of the pistol flashed for a moment in the sunlight, as if in greeting. Also, something the father had passed on to the son, in the Brewster family.

Holstering the pistol and taking the sword, which leaned against the bed edge, he walked back to the front door, out into the stairwell, locking the door he and continued down to the street. It felt strange on the roads of Dunwall, as if the moment were still in the balance. Many high people who had the say after Jessamine Kaldwin was assassinated, died one by one. The Lord Regent, the Hight Overseer, just to name a few. Now the whole city seemed to hold its breath, waiting to see what would happen next.

His workplace laid at the edge of the Distillery District. Always careful to use the routes of the City Watch, wandering too far in the gutters of the gray city, made you a great target for the local gangs. Nicholaus knew that too well, scratching one of his scars on his arm, unknowingly.

Every day, his path led past the Last Garden Pub. It was a corner building with a large square in front of it with two streets leading away. The special thing about the building was not the facade decorated with ornaments and the colorful windows, it was more the green space between the building and the street. Which was arranged with bushes, flowers, and trees. One could see that great effort had been made to care for the garden. But the Rate Plague had also left its mark here. Here and there were unsightly brown spots.

There was a bustle in front of the Pub. Men were loading crates filled with hard liquor and food from a carriage, two horses in front of it. Just as one of the men was carrying a crate into the pub, the tavern owner appeared behind him. The woman squeezed past him and shouted something to the other men. He almost lost his balance and huffed while looking in her direction, rolling his eyes. Recognizing Nicholaus on the street, she beckoned him to her with a broad grin. One hand was on her hip, with the other she tried to push back her hard to control brown, waist-length, hair.

Lorna was a chubby older woman who had seen a lot in her life, but always went through the day with a smile. For that very reason, the Last Garden was a welcome place to stop by every day. Even if it were just to see a nice face after work. She had an open ear for everyone, and that's why people loved her.

Nicholaus walked past the horses and stroked the animal's back with one hand. The animal raised its large head in his direction and neighed softly. When the men noticed him, they gave him a slight nod and brought more crates into the pub.

"Nicholaus, honey!" she said, beaming with joy as he stopped in front of her.

“Good day, Lorna.” Nicholaus looked around the last two crates. One filled with apples and the other with bags of flour. “I see you got fresh goods.”

Her red lips blew a curl from her face. "Oh yes. Slowly I ran out of ideas what to prepare, with scarce reserves. Hopefully, times will get better now. As long as the alcohol is running, everything is fine,“ She winked. “Is it time for your watch?"

Nicholaus nodded as an answer.

The two men came back out of the pub and lifted the last two crates to carry them in as well. Lorna grabbed an apple and walked up to Nicholaus. She reached for his hand and placed the apple into it. Her dark green eyes fixed on him.

“Be careful you hear? Also, take some vitamins with you. Boys need to grow.”

Then she headed for the pub, Nicholaus also continued walking up the street. She called out to him from the back.

"Hey, honey! Are we going to meet you here tonight?"

Nicholaus half turned and called back, "Sure, tonight!" Then he bit into the apple and kept walking.

* * *

He reached the outpost, which served as a gateway to the other district. It must have been a bakery before, old advertising posters still hung on the wall. Now the red brickwork of the building had been divided into two. The door to the metallic annex was open, and he could literally hear his captain cursing inside. Milorat and Kasymir were also next to the door. Engrossed in a conversation.

Milorat Vonturell was a black-haired hunk of a man, bigger than Nicholaus and it seemed like every inch of his light body was tattooed. Funny to know that he came out of an aristocrat family. He could easily make it to a captain, but his rebellious behavior quickly put a spoke in his wheel. But he did not mind because he had a hell of a time to enrage his family.

Kasymir Sherman was also tall, but his tanned body was lean with sinewy muscles. One stroke of fate after another befell him. His entire family fell victim to the Rat Plague. Left him alone, making the entire squad now to his family. Which he will protect by any means.

As Nicholaus approached them they both nodded to him. He knocked on the door and waited to be called in, after a few seconds there was already the voice of his captain. Captain Piers Lynde leaned over a table scattered with a bunch of papers. He sighed in frustration and scratched his white stubbly beard as he looked over the papers.

“Hey Captain, everything fine?” Nicholaus asked and leaned against the door frame with his arms crossed.

Captain Lynde turned his face to him and then back to the papers: “Brewster, good. You are here. Everything fine?! This is pure chaos. Different orders from different places, it gets crazier every day. Who is supposed to see through that?” He massaged the bridge of his nose with two fingers and sighed again.

Not turning around, he finally said, “I sent Chase to get some whale oil, he still hasn't returned. Go check on him. Take someone with you.”

"Will do!" Said Nicholaus and went out.

Milorat had marched to the gateway and was talking to a man who had appeared. Kasymir turned to Nicholaus, a grin on his face, "Captain's pretty tense."

“It will take him a while to sort out the paper mess. We need to check on Dennis.” Nicholaus answered.

Kasymir chuckled:” With our luck, he maybe had blown up the Oil station.”

Both men went down the street, into a side path. It was just a walk of some minutes. The path ended at a metallic hut. Looking around, Nicholaus could not discover anything out of the ordinary. It was paved with dry mud, a rat scurried across it and disappeared into a hole. The path was inconspicuous just like the hut. When they reached the hut, Kasymir poked Nicholaus and pointed at the door. The door was open a little. A low whimper came from the inside. They both sent each other warning glances. Nicholaus drew his pistol and could hear Kasymir's sword being unsheathed behind him. They positioned left and right from the door. Slowly Nicholaus pushed the door open. Then very quickly, with one leap, were both inside. A third voice screamed startled, and both groaned.

Dennis Chase laid surprised on all four on the ground, shards of glasses around him. With dustpan and hand broom in hand. Dennis was the youngest in the squad. A Dunwall street urchin. He does not know who his parents were, so he never got a surname. That’s why the squad gave him one. He was not particularly strong, but he made up for it with agility, by running and climbing like a champion.

A second passed in which all three looked at each other, then Dennis grinned broadly. His white teeth flashed in contrast to his dark skin.

“Outsiders eyes! You both scared me!” he said.

Kasymir chuckled and put his sword back, holding out a hand to Dennis. He reached out and pulled himself up by it.

“Man, you are bleeding,” Kasymir noted and looked at his bloodied hand. Puzzled, Dennis looked down at himself, then recognized a cut on his forearm.

“What happened here?” Nicholaus asked and put the pistol away again, walking around some more steps.

Nervously, Dennis waved the hand broom around as he replied, "Well, I was getting the tank out of there and then all of a sudden it shatters around my ears." Nicholaus noticed the broken tank at the dispensing station.

"Close." Kasymir laughed.

"What?" asked Dennis of him, confused. 

"Nothing." Nicholaus said unable to suppress a smirk. "Go back to the outpost and bandage that up." He took the dustpan and hand broom from him and began to sweep up the broken pieces. “Ah, leave the key for us.”

Kasymir followed Dennis out, calling after him, "Don't try to blow anything up on the way back." Then he went back into the hut and took the broken tank. Everything ended up in the nearby trash can, near the hut.

Nicholaus pulled the lever on the dispenser and held his breath, eyeing it suspiciously. Without any problems, it spat out an empty tank. He took the tank and put it into the refill station und pulled the other lever. With a satisfying hiss and burble, the tank was filled with the blue glowing whale oil. Nicholaus shouldered the tank and walked out. Kasymir locked the hut up and both went back to the outpost.

* * *

With the full tank, Nicholaus successfully got the security system up and running. The low hum of the loudspeakers indicated that the outpost was ready for any alert or announcement. There was no need to turn on the wall of light, because no suspicious gang activity was reported or spread of the Rat Plague in this district, for now.

Dennis had put on a bandage, and then immediately received a telling off from the captain. Now Nicholaus shift finally started, and it was as chaotic as always, in the last weeks and months. For the most part, the shift was uneventful. Various citizens and workers went in and out throughout the day. Suspects were pulled out and questioned, and some were asked to identify themselves. No one made particularly big trouble. Transport carts were stopped and scrutinized. So, the sun colored the sky first orange and then red.

Nicholaus stood in the gate and watched over both directions. The streets became emptier with every less sunbeam. Slowly the cold evening air crept through his clothes. Kasymir and Milorat approached him, and Dennis mostly jumped on their backs, his arms around their necks, laughing. As always, this boy was full of energy.

“Will you go with us to the pub after the watch?” Milorat asked.

“Come on, you will, right?” Dennis called out to him.

"If you'd let me talk, I'd answer, too." Said Nicholaus raising an eyebrow at Dennis. “Of course, I will!”

"Then..." Milorat wanted to say but was interrupted by a scream of a woman, somewhere nearby.

Alarmed, the men looked around and drew their weapons. Another scream from the same woman. They quickly scurried down the side street, in the direction of the scream. At the end of the street was a woman who was trying with all her might to hold on to her bag. Another person was pulling at the bag. Surrounded by other dark figures.

"Is that Bottle Street Gang?" asked Kasymir.

When the person noticed City Watch coming towards them, he shouted something, and the group ran off in all directions.

Nicholaus and the others quickly set after them. Dennis stormed ahead and jumped on the first one.

The group ran past him and Nicholaus shouted, "Get the woman to safety."

One part ran to the left and the other to the right into other streets. Nicholas followed those to the left and directed Milorat and Kasymir to the right. Two figures ran in front of him, the one behind almost stumbled and so Nicholaus reached him, with the butt of the pistol he hit him once hard on the head, he went straight to the ground. A shot came from the other direction. Alarmed, he looked back for a moment and cursed quietly.

Then he heard the low whimpering of the other he was chasing. As Nicholaus turned the corner, he realized that the path led to a dead end, he grinned and raised his gun.

"So, lad. No way out of here," he said with a threatening undertone.

Nicholaus came closer and closer, and the person turned around and raised his hands.

"M-Mathias?!" Nicholaus whispered, bewildered. He lowered the gun and grabbed the boy by the collar, shoving him against the wall. "What the Void are you doing here? Do you want to..." Beads of sweat gathered on the boy's forehead, his hands trembled like a leaf.

"Nicholaus, are you all right?" He heard the voice of Dennis.

Nicholaus growled and let go of Mathias. "Hide and don't make a sound! Go the fuck home!" He glared at him angrily again for a second, then spun around and walked back down the street.

"Yeah, I'm okay. The last one got away from me. What were those shots? Are you guys okay?" He called out to Dennis.

The two met again halfway. Nicholaus shouldered the guy he had knocked out. They both went up the right street. Kasymir and Milorat had cornered three others. Milorat had drawn his pistol and was pointing it at them. Looking closely, only one of them was from the Bottle Street Gang, the rest were all young boys in dirty clothes. When they noticed Nicholaus and Dennis arriving, with their comrade on their shoulder, one stepped forward.

“L-listen. N-no one needs to be hurt. We don’t stole anything.” He waved his arms nervously as he spoke. “We can pay you our coppers, no one will be hurt.” A weak smile on his lips. He put his hands in his pockets and dug out whatever was in them, the coins clattering on the floor. He waved to the others to do the same. Hesitantly, they also dug out everything. The guy who had stepped forward scraped all the coins together and pushed them in Milorat's direction.

Both looked back at Nicholaus, who was still busy getting angry about Mathias. Then his glance landed on the gangers and he let the one on his shoulder slide down against the wall.

"These ones are just small fish, do it however you want."

Then Nicholaus turned on his heel and walked back down the road to the outpost. Dennis followed him. Back at the outpost, they saw that the next watch had arrived. Captain Lynde waited restlessly at the door to the annex.

"Where the hell have you been?!" he shouted to Nicholaus.

Shortly after them Milorat and Kasymir came running. Coins clattered in their pockets with each step.

“We did take care of something. Nothing special, Captain.” Nicholaus answered and looked at the other squad.

Captain Lynde raised his eyebrow for a moment and then shook his head. "Anyway, shift's over." He was about to turn around but seemed to remember something. “Don’t forget, next Watch will be at the Clavering Boulevard. Some new nob wants protection in the next few weeks.”

Then he turned around and disappeared in the annex.

The small group set off down the road to the Last Garden Pub. But Nicholaus wanted to turn into another path after the halfway point.

"Hey, where are you going?" asked Milorat. The group stopped.

Nicholaus stroked his face. "I have to take care of something, sorry guys, drink a glass extra for me." he said then and continued walking.

"I'll even drink two!" Dennis called after him.

Nicholaus could hear all three of them laughing, the more he walked, the quieter their laughter became.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried my best to make details correct with the help of the Dishonored wiki, the novels, and the Dishonored Roleplaying Game-book. But mistakes can always creep in. Sorry for that.  
> I had super much fun writing this different perspective of Dunwall, and i hope you have fun reading it!  
> It's just the beginning! 🐋


End file.
